


to anywhere and back

by excorde (constant)



Category: TREASURE (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Driving, Light Angst, M/M, Photography
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 16:54:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28638837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/constant/pseuds/excorde
Summary: The first thing Yedam's gonna do after getting his license is to take Asahi out for a ride. He promises.
Relationships: Hamada Asahi/Bang Yedam
Comments: 5
Kudos: 20





	to anywhere and back

**Author's Note:**

> this stemmed from an asahi edit with [this](https://open.spotify.com/track/0SpkyS1Q4MD8GaVcP5YjT4?si=cS9dMHHVRcS9EEIljmwW-g) song in the background
> 
> i cant find the edit anymore :( but thank u to the editor <33

"I'm gonna pass my driver's test too." Yedam tells him determinedly, one summer afternoon. 

They're sitting at the curb just right outside Bang's residence, and if he focuses enough, Yedam could hear their mothers' chattering from the front yard where they're roasting barbecue. The aroma wafts through the air. Yedam couldn't see the smoke, but he knows it's there. Before the other can respond, he adds, "Someday." 

Asahi turns to him, squinting from the flashing hues of the sunlight cloaking his face. "Then what?" 

Yedam didn't really think it through; he only said it because Asahi recently passed his, and wouldn't shut up about the fact that he can now drive to anywhere and back. 

"The first thing I'm gonna do is take you out for a ride. You know, like how some people swear to buy this or that when they receive their first paycheck." 

Asahi seems to consider this for a moment, the creases between his eyebrows showing. 

"My mom wanted to buy a piano from her first paycheck." 

Yedam asks the question, even though he already knew, "And do you have a piano?" 

"No." 

They laugh about it for a few seconds. It's not until silence flits through the air again when Yedam realizes that that could be Asahi implying that he wouldn't keep his promise. 

The younger gives him a little nudge. "But seriously. I'm taking you out for a ride. I promise." 

Asahi looks at him and there's a not-smile, not-smirk on his face - just somewhere in between. Something that Yedam will never get used to. 

"I'll take your word for it." 

×××

Asahi is obsessed with photography. 

He has two film cameras and a Polaroid. 

Before his license, they would take long walks in the neighborhood, and he'd photograph every scene he'd find appealing. 

He takes stolen shots of Yedam too, and the latter would always whine about it. 

Asahi would tell him he's pretty. And Yedam almost falls for it. 

After his license, their range had improved. Every time Asahi spots an area, he would pull up, take his camera with, and knock himself out. 

Yedam would sometimes step off the car after him, admire the view.

Sometimes he admires Asahi, watches as his eyes sparkle in excitement behind the lens, as he skitters from one spot to the next, tilting to find the right angle, as he smiles at him - a full smile this time - when he catches him staring. 

Yedam falls for it. 

He almost tells him he's pretty.

×××

Asahi's car is old enough that it warrants a few taps on the dashboard to rid of the static in the radio. The windows can't be completely rolled up, leaving a little gap between the glass and the top of the vehicle. 

But it's running. The seatbelts are fine. The windshield and bumper are intact. 

The windows are rolled down whenever they go out for a ride, the wind whipping Yedam's face and brushing his hair, the two of them screaming to whatever song it is playing on the staticky radio. 

_Journeys_ have always made him feel more than the _destinations_. It is in these moments where he has felt the most alive because he's reminded of one of the many reasons to live. 

Asahi is stunning when he laughs, when he lets go and forgets himself for a while, forgets college, forgets the speed limit, remembers nothing but the lyrics playing on the radio, (and when he turns to the passenger seat to smile,) remembers Yedam. 

Whenever the vehicle comes to a halt, and the melody from the stereo gets cut off mid-song, the feeling of disappointment dips deep in Yedam's stomach. 

Asahi unbuckles his seatbelt, sometimes still with a low hum, other times with a ghost of a good time in his eyes. 

"I had fun." Yedam tells him, and Asahi cocks an eyebrow in his direction. 

"But we just arrived." 

×××

Asahi shows him the newly developed films. 

Albeit, in a rush. 

_A blur of rice fields, lush foliage, a busy night street filled with red lights, food kiosks in the market, the street across from theirs, Yedam, Yedam squinting at the sunlight, Yedam's back, Yedam half-covered in blankets, Yedam smeared with ice cream, Yedam_ beaming _._

And Yedam, _this_ Yedam, this living breathing Yedam, mirrors the image of him in the printed photograph, looking up at the older with a clench in his heart. 

"They came out better than I expected." 

Asahi shrugs. "Of course it did. I took it." 

Yedam shakes his head with a laugh, eyes flitting back down to the photographs, Asahi still shuffling them in his hands as if in a hurry. 

_-Asahi's little sister in her Taekwondo dobok, the crowd in the night market, Yedam in the night market, Yedam in the passenger seat of Asahi's car, Yedam leaning against Asahi's car raising a peace sign, Yedam, Yedam, and then-_

Not Yedam _._

"Who was that?" 

Asahi tucks the photographs away, a not-so subtle attempt to keep them out of sight. 

Asahi changes the subject by asking him out for ramen. He never answers the question. 

×××

Yedam gets his license, and as promised, he takes Asahi out for a ride. 

It's almost how he pictured it. 

His mom's car is relatively new, but he still leaves the window down to feel the rush of the wind on his face. The radio blasts _Uverworld_ and _Dir En Grey_ , and they scream their lungs out to every lyric, every guitar note. 

It's almost how he pictured it.

Almost. 

Asahi sits in the back seat, too slow, too aloof to have called shotgun. Taking his place is Jaehyuk, head banging and jamming to the songs even though he doesn't know the words, but still managing to match their energies. Asahi introduced him as a ' _friend_ '. Yedam isn't stupid. There had been an implication. He gets it. 

_It's okay_ , though his hands grip tightly on the steering wheel. 

_It's okay_ , though he has lost hold to a fraction of Asahi's films now. 

_It's okay_. 

Yedam glances at Asahi through the windshield, sees him staring out the window with a faraway look in his gaze. 

The next time he glances back, Asahi's already looking at him, flashing a little smile upon meeting his eyes. 

His grip loosens. 

It's okay.

×××

That summer, a few weeks after Yedam had hinted on his promise, Asahi had asked him, "Where are you taking me?" 

Yedam had looked up from his phone, brain slowly processing the words, "What?" 

They came to pick Asahi's sister up from Taekwondo lessons. Her classes usually let up on time but she took a while to come out that day for some reason. It was an insanely humid afternoon that even with the windows rolled down, the two took turns on the chipped cardboard fan they found in the car compartment.

"You said you're taking me out for a ride when you get your license. So, where are you taking me?" 

"I haven't really thought about it yet." Yedam paused, passing the older the fan, "I guess I'll know when I have it." 

"I guess." 

"Don't expect too much, though." 

"I'm not."

Yedam has always appreciated _journeys_ more than the _destinations_. He wondered briefly, if Asahi's on the same page as him. 

Letting his curiosity take over, he had asked, "Would it matter where we go?" 

"No." Asahi had paused to reveal that not-smile, not smirk. (He does that sometimes. It's like no one has given him the memo that he can smile and talk at the same time. It drives Yedam crazy.) 

And when his face broke out in that full smile, Yedam had gotten his answer. 

"No, I guess not."

**Author's Note:**

> can u tell that im (actually) yesahi biased ^_^
> 
> [cc](https://curiouscat.me/excorde)


End file.
